• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Important reason you should restart your iPhone every single day

Home> Technology> News

Published 13:54 3 Dec 2024 GMT

Important reason you should restart your iPhone every single day

Journalist Ronan Farrow explained his top tips for phone users

Ellie Kemp

Ellie Kemp

Featured Image Credit: Ivan Pantic/Tang Ming Tung/Getty Images

Topics: Technology, Politics, Film and TV, Phones, iPhone

Ellie Kemp
Ellie Kemp

Advert

Advert

Advert

A journalist who was put under surveillance by Harvey Weinstein has shared why simply turning your phone off each day is so important.

Never mind the unusual changes the latest iOS update has ushered in - if you own a phone, your safety could be at risk without you even realizing.

Ronan Farrow is perhaps best known for his 2017 New Yorker report on the sexual abuse allegations against disgraced movie producer Weinstein.

Advert

But he was tracked and surveilled by the Israeli private intelligence firm Black Cube at Weinstein’s request as he began his research.

Farrow - the son of actress Mia Farrow and his estranged father Woody Allen - described the experience as 'emotionally devastating and intrusive'.

He turned the experience into an hour-long HBO documentary, uncovering tools used by 'the state' to surveil our daily lives.

Farrow explores the work of activists and their families, friends, and coworkers who - similar to himself - were targeted by the Israeli-owned NSO Group.

Advert

He explains how they were able to discover and trace back their hacked devices, with some using DIY aluminum foil known as Faraday cages.

Government officials and anonymous tech buyers also feature in the movie, claiming that no one is really safe from being watched and becoming a target of spyware.

Last week, Farrow joined The Daily Show's Desi Lydic to talk more about the documentary, while offering up his own phone safety tips.

He told Lydic: "Restart your phone every day, that’s one practical piece of advice. Because a lot of forms of this kind of spyware will be foiled by a reboot. That seems so banal but it really is a good step to take. Keep everything updated is the other thing."

Advert

The National Security Agency claim restarting your device helps to protect it from some hacking attacks, especially via malicious links and so-called zero-click exploits.

These involve bypassing your phone's security features, starting with a missed call, then the first installed files, which gradually allow access to the system so hackers can gather your information.

This usually goes unnoticed, but can be prevented by rebooting the device.

Restarting your phone can prevent some malware from working (Ton Photograph/Getty Images)
Restarting your phone can prevent some malware from working (Ton Photograph/Getty Images)

Advert

Doing this will also help your iPhone or Android run more smoothly.

Later on in the show, Farrow warned that the sorts of attacks detailed in his documentary could 'come for anyone'.

He said: "I keep getting told, by experts in this technology, that if our government doesn't curtail the use of this [spyware] and there's a lot of skepticism that the incoming administration will—you won't know if you're on some target list.

"You won't know if your phone is being hacked or how that data is being used. It's easy to see this as a distant issue... but it can come for anyone."

Advert

Surveilled is available to stream now on HBO Max.

Choose your content:

22 hours ago
a day ago
3 days ago
  • 22 hours ago

    Scientists have discovered a mysterious tiny world in our solar system

    The cosmic 'fossil' has been found at the edge of the solar system

    Technology
  • 22 hours ago

    How Felix Baumgartner stunned the world as he broke sound barrier jumping to Earth at 850mph

    The daredevil captivated millions with his record-breaking jump in 2012

    Technology
  • a day ago

    NASA's James Webb telescope captures earliest stage of planet formation that we've never seen before

    The formation of a 'baby' star some 1,300 light-years away was captured for the first time ever

    Technology
  • 3 days ago

    ISS astronaut reveals how they give haircuts in space and it's blown our mind

    Haircut while hurtling through space at 17,500 mph, anyone?

    Technology
  • Apple employee reveals surprising reason why you shouldn't close apps on your iPhone
  • Surprising iPhone trick not many people know can make your battery last much longer
  • Apple explains why you should never swipe apps closed on an iPhone
  • FBI warns iPhone and Android users to stop texting each other for a disturbing reason